The 2023 (and beyond) Tampa Bay Rays - Page 14

Art Deco · 06-01-2025, 08:32 AM

Record: 14-14
3rd place AL East, 3 1/2 behind Boston; 1/2 back of Toronto for third wild card

Every year in this save the Rays get off to a slow start, hovering around .500 during the first month or two, turn it on and win the division, and then lose in the playoffs. Well you can check off the first part of this for 2034 as a good 14-9 start turned into 14-14 mediocrity after they lost the last five games of the month.

It was a much more tumultuous month than normal on the roster front. Jose Ramos' return from suspension in Game 4 meant we had to make a move with the OF and it turned into a trade:

Alexis Soto, the rookie who was out of options, was flipped for another OF prospect in Rosas. The 25-year old has 55/45 current contact/power but with potential for 70/60 as well as a 55 eye. He's an average defender in the corners. Rosas has produced in the first month at Durham, hitting 319/375/617 with 8 homers and I'm almost considering bringing him up the way we've been hitting (more on that in a bit).

The wheeling and dealing continued a few days later as we made this blockbuster:

If you're following along you're probably wondering who the heck is Machuca. He's a 17-year-old who was maybe the top player in his amateur IFA class this winter with 70/70 potential and is ranked the #80 prospect. But we're in win-now mode and managed to parlay him into 2/5ths of the Toronto rotation. Yohemas is the real prize - he has 75 stuff as a starter and fanned 239 in 180 innings for Toronto last year. That goes with 65 movement but only 40 control so he did walk 110 in those 180 innings. Still he's a potentially elite starter and has looked the part in his first month in Tampa Bay, as you'll see a bit later. Vela is more of a back-end rotation guy, rated 50/65/60 with potential to go 5 higher in stuff and control and was a pretty good 10-7, 3.75 in 23 starts for Toronto last year. Right now he's in our bullpen but eventually will join the rotation, either later this year or next.

To make room for Yohemas and Vela, we had to move a guy who's been with us for several years:

Kim had been a swingman for us for the last several seasons, usually having a bit more trouble as a starter. The interesting guy for us is Franks, an elite defender in the OF (70 in the corners, 60 in center) with 50 contact, 45 power and 70 gap power. He's also a 70 baserunner/stealer. He had a cup of coffee with the White Sox last year and was a late-month callup for us when Ben Schmidt went on the IL with a bone bruise that will keep him out until mid-May. Sandoval is an org guy at 1B with 45/50 ratings and potential, so not really a prospect.

Phew! That was more wheeling and dealing than I do typically do in April.

As you can see Tatis is bidding for his 4th straight MVP.

And there you have it - very good pitching and defense and not very good offense. Pythagoras has us at 16-12 which wouldn't be so bad, but the late-inning relief has been inconsistent and our next move might be for a real closer as Juan Nunez has had his struggles after being bumped up to 9th-inning duties. Gotta think positive regression is in store for the bats - just look at some of these numbers:

Oof. Look at some of those numbers. Our twin stars Tatis and Subaru have done their usual thing but aside from them and Crisp, that's about it for production. And nobody's been a bigger bust than $10M free agent signee Ramos, second-from-bottom above. Those are bad numbers for a utility infielder, let alone a guy that's supposed to be a middle-of-the-order force. And I'm not sure what's up with Paino, one of our better players the last couple of seasons. There's just too much awfulness from guys with good track records to think it won't turn around soon but it's incredibly frustrating in the moment.

A much rosier picture here with the once-again rebuilt rotation going swimmingly. Sesay has been what we hoped, Yohemas has been great (although that .152 BABIP isn't sustainable) and Morejon is Yohemas' opposite, largely pitching well but with an inflated BABIP. Nunez as mentioned hasn't been a lockdown closer, and Jones has become a sad story. Last year he might have been our best starter in the first half before getting hurt, now he's not even an effective lefty reliever. Garces was the odd man out of the rotation when Yohemas was acquired but he's capable of starting as is Vela, but no room for them right now.

The farm system is middling. 2031 first-round pick Sullivan is off to a blazing start at AAA and is a definite future Ray, but he only has 30 current power to go with 60 contact so I'm not sure where all the homers are coming from. His potential is 75/50 so I'm sure he'll be up next year at the latest. Cerda is hitting homers at Montgomery but needs more consistency, he's a future big-leaguer and a potential star. New acquisitions Franks and Rosas aren't on here even though they're rookies - Rosas was the #62 overall prospect at the end of last season. With Olivo also looked potentially elite we're awash in future OFs.

Art Deco · 06-28-2025, 10:12 AM

Record: 31-25 (17-11 for the month)
2nd place AL East, 2 1/2 behind Boston, 1/2 behind Detroit for WC3

A decent month but not a great one where the pitching carried us and the offense continued to struggle to the point where we had to shake things up a bit. We made a minor move on the pitching staff where we brought back a former Ray reliever on waivers as Hayden Juenger was claimed from the Yankees. The righty pitched for us from 2024-29 and is rated 65/50/55 although he struggled this year. To make room we DFA'd Brock Jones and traded him to the Mets for utility guy Ken Lombardi, who has a little pop in his bat but is nothing special and was sent to Durham. The bigger shakeup came with about a week left in the month when we benched free agent signee DH Jose Ramos ("hitting" 164/250/267) and optioned long-time RF starter Ben Schmidt (struggling yet again at 214/314/350) to Durham to install a couple of guys we picked up in trades last month, rookie OF Alfredo Rosas (337/400/710 with 17 HR in 43 games with the Bulls) and Jonathan Franks, whom we had originally brought up when Schmidt got hurt last month, making them the DH and RF respectively. Neither has set the world alight since being put in the lineup but I had grown tired of the other two.

The big picture:

Fortunately nobody's running away with things so far.

The run prevention remains excellent but oh that offense. And oh that road record - 10-17 away from the Trop where we're 21-8. Not sure what to do about the bats other than to cycle guys in and out and hope the ones in the lineup start positively regressing to their talent level since most of them should be doing better.

The May stats:

As usual only Tatis and Subaru (and to a lesser extent Basallo) are the only ones consistently pulling their weight on offense. Franks has looked good and Satiro perked up in May but the rest of the lineup's been dreadful and I don't know what's wrong with Paino, who just isn't hitting at all. It can only get better from here, right? Right?

No real complaints here. Vela has struggled in a long relief role since coming over in the trade from Toronto so at the end of the month he was optioned to Durham where he'll get a chance to start.

We'll catch up with the prospects in next month's midseason report.

Art Deco · 07-24-2025, 09:26 AM

Record: 49-31 (18-6 for the month)
1st place AL East, 2 1/2 up on Boston

A big month for the Rays even if this team kind of underwhelms me but they check out - 49-31 is their Pythagorean record as well. The pitching continues to carry them as the bats have been inconsistent, which is the source of my mild skepticism. Two players came back only to get hurt - OF Joe Edwards lasted one game before tearing his groin and will be out through the end of July, and OF Ben Schmidt tore it up at Durham after being sent down last month, earning a recall which was cut short when he suffered an intercostal strain that will sideline him through the All-Star break. There was one player acquisition: OF Curro Silva was claimed on waivers from Houston on the 23rd. The rookie was hitting 282/327/495 with the Astros with 6 HR in 103 AB and is rated 55/60 (65 potential contact) but is a mediocre defensive OF. Given that we've had issues with OF and DH this year he seemed like a no-brainer pickup.

The game-by-game roundup:

And a look across MLB:

The team numbers:

We are truly dominant at the Trop (32-10). Otherwise the offense did perk up in June as last month we were ranked in double digits in most categories. The pitching remains excellent and the defense has really been good, especially with Jonathan Franks in RF and the return of Owen Paino at 2B.

As always at the midway point we go with the YTD stats rather than the monthlies:

Tatis and Subaru as usual lead the pack for the season but Quezada had a huge month (380/453/658 with 6 HR, 18 RBI and 14 SB) as did Basallo (320/386/680 with 7 HR). Ramos, our big free-agent signing who's been a total bust, even came alive during the month (257/329/614 with 14 XBH including 4 homers) but it's a measure of how bad his April/May numbers were that he's still -0.5 WAR for the year. Ironically Tatis (193/280/409) and Subaru (198/247/429) were terrible in June.

Now that we've reached the midway point of the season it's safe to say the rotation rebuild (with only Teodo and Lambert returning) was an unqualified success as Sesay, Morejon and Yohemas have been brilliant. The bullpen is a little less so but doing alright. Nunez has been shaky at times as the closer after being so good in a setup role in recent seasons but Boyle and Jimenez have stepped up. No real complaints here.

The farm system is not great but not terrible. Vokey and Cerda are elite prospects who aren't that far away; in fact Cerda could get the call as we continue to cycle through OF/DH-types. Olivo and Sullivan are top-of-the-order types who are also bubbling up but are more likely to make an impact next season. And hopefully we can add to this with a decent draft in a couple of weeks.

06-01-2025, 08:32 AM	#261
Art Deco Hall Of Famer Join Date: May 2020 Posts: 7,284	April 2034 Record: 14-14 3rd place AL East, 3 1/2 behind Boston; 1/2 back of Toronto for third wild card Every year in this save the Rays get off to a slow start, hovering around .500 during the first month or two, turn it on and win the division, and then lose in the playoffs. Well you can check off the first part of this for 2034 as a good 14-9 start turned into 14-14 mediocrity after they lost the last five games of the month. It was a much more tumultuous month than normal on the roster front. Jose Ramos' return from suspension in Game 4 meant we had to make a move with the OF and it turned into a trade: Alexis Soto, the rookie who was out of options, was flipped for another OF prospect in Rosas. The 25-year old has 55/45 current contact/power but with potential for 70/60 as well as a 55 eye. He's an average defender in the corners. Rosas has produced in the first month at Durham, hitting 319/375/617 with 8 homers and I'm almost considering bringing him up the way we've been hitting (more on that in a bit). The wheeling and dealing continued a few days later as we made this blockbuster: If you're following along you're probably wondering who the heck is Machuca. He's a 17-year-old who was maybe the top player in his amateur IFA class this winter with 70/70 potential and is ranked the #80 prospect. But we're in win-now mode and managed to parlay him into 2/5ths of the Toronto rotation. Yohemas is the real prize - he has 75 stuff as a starter and fanned 239 in 180 innings for Toronto last year. That goes with 65 movement but only 40 control so he did walk 110 in those 180 innings. Still he's a potentially elite starter and has looked the part in his first month in Tampa Bay, as you'll see a bit later. Vela is more of a back-end rotation guy, rated 50/65/60 with potential to go 5 higher in stuff and control and was a pretty good 10-7, 3.75 in 23 starts for Toronto last year. Right now he's in our bullpen but eventually will join the rotation, either later this year or next. To make room for Yohemas and Vela, we had to move a guy who's been with us for several years: Kim had been a swingman for us for the last several seasons, usually having a bit more trouble as a starter. The interesting guy for us is Franks, an elite defender in the OF (70 in the corners, 60 in center) with 50 contact, 45 power and 70 gap power. He's also a 70 baserunner/stealer. He had a cup of coffee with the White Sox last year and was a late-month callup for us when Ben Schmidt went on the IL with a bone bruise that will keep him out until mid-May. Sandoval is an org guy at 1B with 45/50 ratings and potential, so not really a prospect. Phew! That was more wheeling and dealing than I do typically do in April. As you can see Tatis is bidding for his 4th straight MVP. And there you have it - very good pitching and defense and not very good offense. Pythagoras has us at 16-12 which wouldn't be so bad, but the late-inning relief has been inconsistent and our next move might be for a real closer as Juan Nunez has had his struggles after being bumped up to 9th-inning duties. Gotta think positive regression is in store for the bats - just look at some of these numbers: Oof. Look at some of those numbers. Our twin stars Tatis and Subaru have done their usual thing but aside from them and Crisp, that's about it for production. And nobody's been a bigger bust than $10M free agent signee Ramos, second-from-bottom above. Those are bad numbers for a utility infielder, let alone a guy that's supposed to be a middle-of-the-order force. And I'm not sure what's up with Paino, one of our better players the last couple of seasons. There's just too much awfulness from guys with good track records to think it won't turn around soon but it's incredibly frustrating in the moment. A much rosier picture here with the once-again rebuilt rotation going swimmingly. Sesay has been what we hoped, Yohemas has been great (although that .152 BABIP isn't sustainable) and Morejon is Yohemas' opposite, largely pitching well but with an inflated BABIP. Nunez as mentioned hasn't been a lockdown closer, and Jones has become a sad story. Last year he might have been our best starter in the first half before getting hurt, now he's not even an effective lefty reliever. Garces was the odd man out of the rotation when Yohemas was acquired but he's capable of starting as is Vela, but no room for them right now. The farm system is middling. 2031 first-round pick Sullivan is off to a blazing start at AAA and is a definite future Ray, but he only has 30 current power to go with 60 contact so I'm not sure where all the homers are coming from. His potential is 75/50 so I'm sure he'll be up next year at the latest. Cerda is hitting homers at Montgomery but needs more consistency, he's a future big-leaguer and a potential star. New acquisitions Franks and Rosas aren't on here even though they're rookies - Rosas was the #62 overall prospect at the end of last season. With Olivo also looked potentially elite we're awash in future OFs.

06-28-2025, 10:12 AM	#262
Art Deco Hall Of Famer Join Date: May 2020 Posts: 7,284	May 2034 Record: 31-25 (17-11 for the month) 2nd place AL East, 2 1/2 behind Boston, 1/2 behind Detroit for WC3 A decent month but not a great one where the pitching carried us and the offense continued to struggle to the point where we had to shake things up a bit. We made a minor move on the pitching staff where we brought back a former Ray reliever on waivers as Hayden Juenger was claimed from the Yankees. The righty pitched for us from 2024-29 and is rated 65/50/55 although he struggled this year. To make room we DFA'd Brock Jones and traded him to the Mets for utility guy Ken Lombardi, who has a little pop in his bat but is nothing special and was sent to Durham. The bigger shakeup came with about a week left in the month when we benched free agent signee DH Jose Ramos ("hitting" 164/250/267) and optioned long-time RF starter Ben Schmidt (struggling yet again at 214/314/350) to Durham to install a couple of guys we picked up in trades last month, rookie OF Alfredo Rosas (337/400/710 with 17 HR in 43 games with the Bulls) and Jonathan Franks, whom we had originally brought up when Schmidt got hurt last month, making them the DH and RF respectively. Neither has set the world alight since being put in the lineup but I had grown tired of the other two. The big picture: Fortunately nobody's running away with things so far. The run prevention remains excellent but oh that offense. And oh that road record - 10-17 away from the Trop where we're 21-8. Not sure what to do about the bats other than to cycle guys in and out and hope the ones in the lineup start positively regressing to their talent level since most of them should be doing better. The May stats: As usual only Tatis and Subaru (and to a lesser extent Basallo) are the only ones consistently pulling their weight on offense. Franks has looked good and Satiro perked up in May but the rest of the lineup's been dreadful and I don't know what's wrong with Paino, who just isn't hitting at all. It can only get better from here, right? Right? No real complaints here. Vela has struggled in a long relief role since coming over in the trade from Toronto so at the end of the month he was optioned to Durham where he'll get a chance to start. We'll catch up with the prospects in next month's midseason report. Last edited by Art Deco; 06-28-2025 at 10:15 AM.

07-24-2025, 09:26 AM	#263
Art Deco Hall Of Famer Join Date: May 2020 Posts: 7,284	June 2034 Record: 49-31 (18-6 for the month) 1st place AL East, 2 1/2 up on Boston A big month for the Rays even if this team kind of underwhelms me but they check out - 49-31 is their Pythagorean record as well. The pitching continues to carry them as the bats have been inconsistent, which is the source of my mild skepticism. Two players came back only to get hurt - OF Joe Edwards lasted one game before tearing his groin and will be out through the end of July, and OF Ben Schmidt tore it up at Durham after being sent down last month, earning a recall which was cut short when he suffered an intercostal strain that will sideline him through the All-Star break. There was one player acquisition: OF Curro Silva was claimed on waivers from Houston on the 23rd. The rookie was hitting 282/327/495 with the Astros with 6 HR in 103 AB and is rated 55/60 (65 potential contact) but is a mediocre defensive OF. Given that we've had issues with OF and DH this year he seemed like a no-brainer pickup. The game-by-game roundup: And a look across MLB: The team numbers: We are truly dominant at the Trop (32-10). Otherwise the offense did perk up in June as last month we were ranked in double digits in most categories. The pitching remains excellent and the defense has really been good, especially with Jonathan Franks in RF and the return of Owen Paino at 2B. As always at the midway point we go with the YTD stats rather than the monthlies: Tatis and Subaru as usual lead the pack for the season but Quezada had a huge month (380/453/658 with 6 HR, 18 RBI and 14 SB) as did Basallo (320/386/680 with 7 HR). Ramos, our big free-agent signing who's been a total bust, even came alive during the month (257/329/614 with 14 XBH including 4 homers) but it's a measure of how bad his April/May numbers were that he's still -0.5 WAR for the year. Ironically Tatis (193/280/409) and Subaru (198/247/429) were terrible in June. Now that we've reached the midway point of the season it's safe to say the rotation rebuild (with only Teodo and Lambert returning) was an unqualified success as Sesay, Morejon and Yohemas have been brilliant. The bullpen is a little less so but doing alright. Nunez has been shaky at times as the closer after being so good in a setup role in recent seasons but Boyle and Jimenez have stepped up. No real complaints here. The farm system is not great but not terrible. Vokey and Cerda are elite prospects who aren't that far away; in fact Cerda could get the call as we continue to cycle through OF/DH-types. Olivo and Sullivan are top-of-the-order types who are also bubbling up but are more likely to make an impact next season. And hopefully we can add to this with a decent draft in a couple of weeks.